Disclaimer: I do not own VanHelsing or any of the characters and/or themes associated with it.

Chapter One:

Rowena awoke in the middle of the night to heavy footsteps outside her bedroom door. She was staying in the Roadside Inn, a small inn and bar in a secluded English village. Her senses suddenly alert, she shot up out of bed. She had slept in her clothes, a pair of black riding pants and a dark red tunic. As she bent over to pull on her boots, the several talismans she wore around her neck clinked together. She clutched them quickly, trying to be as quiet as possible.

I knew they would come…she thought. For the past year, she had been on the run, moving from place to place, traveling all of Europe. Had it been up to her, she would have settled down somewhere, but she could never stop running. Not after all that had happened.

When Rowena was eighteen years old she had been suspected as a witch by the people of her village, a tiny community in Northern Romania. True, she did possess several mysterious gifts, but she had never used them to hurt anyone. However, this was small comfort to the people of her village, and they took her from her home and held her, deciding that the best course of action would be to execute her. Rowena had no family, no one to negotiate for her or to mourn her, were she to die. After being held for several days, a group of men from the village took her into the woods, where they attempted to stone her to death. After being hit with the stones for several minutes, Rowena had called on her gifts for the first time in her life.

She had conjured a small tornado, which had driven the men away. However, the men of Rowena's village were not that easily deterred, and for the past year they had been on a witch hunt, gathering others to their cause, alerting towns and villages all over Europe that a witch was on the loose and could be coming for them. Wherever Rowena went, she saw posters of herself, with the words "WANTED FOR WITCHCRAFT AND ATTEMPTED MURDER" in large, bold letters above her portrait. And wherever she went, trouble seemed quick in following. She knew that it was only a matter of time before someone would recognize her and her life would once again be in danger.

Quickly, Rowena grabbed her pistol and knives. She equipped herself with the weapons and pulled on a long leather coat. She twirled her long, curly dark red hair and pulled a hat over it. She started for the door, but, realizing that she wouldn't be able to escape that way, turned back. She walked climbed over her bed, trying to go as fast as she could. She went to the window and looked out of it, searching for any means of escape. Two horses were tied up outside. If she went quick enough she could steal one and be gone with it before the owner ever realized anything had happened. She looked down the side of the stone building. The stones were old and the concrete binding them together was worn, making several spots that she could use as footholds.

Hurriedly, Rowena opened the window and began her decent down the building. Within about a minute, she had made it down. However, judging by the racket coming from her room, her would-be attackers had broken into her room. She looked up. There was a large man, looking to be in his forties, with a frizzy dark beard looking down at her. She looked next to her. There was a lantern about ten feet away. She used her powers to blow the lantern out, hoping to escape under the cover of darkness.

She heard the man above shout to his companions, "She's down there!" Heavy footsteps could once again be heard, this time leaving her room and no doubt making their way downstairs. Rowena made a dash for the horses, straddling the strongest of the two, a large brown steed. Quickly, she spurred the beast and it took of into the night. She rode along the pathway as fast as she could.

Within about five minutes, she could hear the steps of a single horse at full canter approaching her from behind. She turned her head quickly, trying to see who was behind her. She was in this moment more thankful than she had ever been that one of her gifts was the ability to see clearly through the darkness. Behind her was a man with broad shoulders. He had strong, hard features and was riding the horse that had been tied up next to the one that Rowena had stolen.

"Blast!" she said aloud to herself. The horse behind her, although smaller than hers, was making good speed. Soon, it would catch up.

Rowena forced her horse to go faster, but still, as though carried by the cold wind, the horse behind her advanced. Soon, it was next to her. She looked over at the man. He was staring at her through stony gray eyes.

Suddenly, without warning, the man leapt from his own horse and onto the back of Rowena's. She went to grab her knife, but the man's large, strong hands grabbed hold of her wrists, pulling them behind her back. He eased the horse into a stop, and, as soon as they had ceased moving, Rowena jumped off and began running. She made her way into a clearing and stopped, drawing her pistol.

The man walked after her, quite casually, and stood across her in the clearing. By now the sun was rising, and Rowena was able to see the man without using her gifts.

"I'll shoot you!" she threatened. She wasn't lying. She had shot many of her pursuers in the past. It didn't help her reputation, but whenever she was forced to kill someone, she reminded herself that had they had the chance, they would have killed her as well.

"There's no need to shoot me," said the man, holding his hands up. A smirk formed on his lips; he seemed to find the situation amusing.

"If you step any closer, there will be," Rowena informed him. She cocked her pistol, to show that she was serious.

"I'm not here to hurt you, and I definitely would prefer if you don't shoot me," said the man. "I guess it's your call." He shrugged, as though he didn't really care what happened.

"I need that horse," Rowena said. She knew that the men who had broken into her room would be coming soon, and she did not want to be there when they arrived.

"So do I," said the man. "And, seeing as it was originally mine, I think I'll take it."

Rowena shook her head. This man was obviously not going to make things easy. "I told you once, I'll shoot you!" she yelled. "Next time I have to warn you, I can promise a bullet!" She could hear her Romanian accent, more present than usual because of her distress.

"There's no need to shoot me," said the man. "I told you I didn't come to hurt you. I just want my horse. Then my companion and I will be on my way."

Rowena looked around the man and saw a small blonde haired man standing by the horse that this man had ridden up on. She had not spotted him before.

Her mind racing, Rowena said the first thing she could think of. "Take me with you then."

"What?" asked the man, his expression changing to one of confusion.

"It doesn't matter where you're going," Rowena told him. "Just get me away from here."

The man considered this. "Very well," he said, finally. "I'll take you with me. But only to the next inn."

Rowena sighed. She had been in this area before. The next inn was about two days ride away. However, she didn't have time to worry about accommodations. "Fine," she said, putting her pistol back in its holder. She ran over to the man's horse and climbed on.

"You're in a hurry," said the man, getting on behind her.

"Yes, I am," said Rowena, finding the man more and more exasperating by the second. "You would be too, were you in my situation."

The man spurred the horse and they began riding. Several times, Rowena turned and looked behind her, expecting to see a large group approaching. Just when she had become comfortable enough not to keep checking, she heard the thunder of several horses advancing from behind.

She turned, and saw the man with the frizzy beard, leading the party. She thought she recognized him from her village, but couldn't be sure.

"We've got you now, witch!" cried the man, punching a triumphant fist into the air. "You men riding with her pull over and hand her over if you know what's good for you!"

The man Rowena was riding with turned and eyed the party. "All this for you, eh?" he asked.

Rowena nodded. "I told you I was in a hurry."

"Don't worry," said the man. Then, much to Rowena's surprise, he pulled his horse to the side of the path. The blonde man riding next to them started to stop as well, but the man turned to him and said, "You continue on, Carl. I'll catch up."

The blonde man nodded and rode off, obviously glad to avoid any commotion.

"What are you doing?" asked Rowena angrily. The man had dismounted his horse and was now fumbling around in a saddle bag for something.

"Me?" he asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Oh nothing, really. Just saving your life."

Rowena got off the horse and drew her pistol in preparation to fight the oncoming party. "I don't need you to save me," she said, indignantly. And, truth be told, she didn't. If worse came to worst, she could always use her powers and save herself. However, she did not delight in using them, and could be relatively sure that this strange man would not want to give her a ride after seeing her wipe out an entire party of men without firing a shot.

"Sure you don't," said the man, pulling a rifle from somewhere inside his large trench coat. He loaded it with bullets that he had taken from his saddle bag and mounted the gun on his shoulder, prepared to fight.

Soon, the party had met them and stopped, just in front of them. Eyeing the gun, their bearded leader said, "We don't want any trouble. Just the witch and we'll be off."

"I'm sorry," said Rowena's rescuer, "but I've just promised her a ride, and I don't like breaking promises."

"Well-" sputtered the man. He was obviously not expecting this reaction. "Well, she's a witch! We've been after her going on a year now! Haven't you seen the wanted posters? She's a murderer! You'd do well to kill her yourself, before she has a chance to use her magic and do you in as well!"

"It's all lies!" cried Rowena, now too enraged to maintain her cool composure. "I only ever killed people who were going to kill me! You would do the same!"

The man laughed coldly. "I most certainly would not do the same," he replied. Then, turning to Rowena's companion again, he said, "This girl, if one can call her that, is a witch, I tell you! She's from my village, in Romania! We tried to stone her, that's how you get rid of a witch, but she attacked us! Conjured up some sort of whirlwind!"

Rolling his eyes, the man with the rifle said simply, "Look, I don't want to hurt anyone. I promised her a ride and I'm going to give her one. And as far as witchcraft, she's given me no indication that she has any mysterious powers."

Now fed up with negotiating, the bearded man lifted his own gun and fired a shot, just missing Rowena, who anticipated the bullet and jumped away.

"See!" said the man, pointing an accusing finger at Rowena. "You ever see a normal woman dodge a bullet?"

"I'm afraid I don't generally shoot at women," said Rowena's companion, losing patience. "Now, if you don't mind, we'd really like to be on our way."

"I think not!" cried the bearded man, raising his gun once more. This time Rowena was ready. She fired a shot from her pistol, hitting the man in the chest. He slumped over and then fell off of his horse.

This, of course, spurred an outrage from the large party, which consisted of about fifty men. They all drew guns and crossbows. A few without proper weapons held pitchforks in the air.

"If you do have any powers," said Rowena's companion, "you'd better use them quick. I don't know if we can take all of these guys on our own."

"I thought you didn't believe in witchcraft," countered Rowena, in no hurry to flaunt her powers.

"I never said that," he retorted. "I merely said that you had given me no indication of being a witch."

Rowena considered this. "Will you still take me with you?" she asked, dodging an arrow.

"To the nearest inn, as I said," said the man, nodding.

"Very well." Rowena concentrated hard, and soon she could feel a familiar breeze forming around her. Before she realized what she had done, she had formed multiple small funnels, which weaved throughout the party of men. A few in the back, who were easily frightened, turned and fled, heading back toward the Roadside Inn.

This was, however, not enough to scare all of the men away. Taking a deep breath, Rowena used all of her strength to pull the men's weapons into the twisters. Within seconds they were all unarmed and stared at her, dumfounded. Exchanging frightened glances, the last of the party turned and hurried away.

Rowena took another deep breath and the twisters dissipated. Suddenly, she felt extremely tired. She had not had to use her powers to such an extent in some time, and it left her feeling drained. She put a hand on the saddle of the horse, which she was still standing next to, and steadied herself.

The man she had come with gave her one long stare before finally asking if she was going to be alright.

"I'm fine," she said, not wanting him to look him the eye.

"Can you get onto the horse?" he asked, putting his things away as though nothing amazing or out of the ordinary had just happened.

"I think so," she said. She made put her foot in the stirrup and hade made it halfway up when she began to fall. She placed a hand on the man's shoulder for support and settled onto the saddle. Her companion followed suit.

They rode for about ten minutes before either of them spoke.

"What is your name?" asked the man.

"What is yours?" countered Rowena.

The man inhaled. He seemed nervous at giving out his name, but finally answered, "My name is Gabriel VanHelsing."

Rowena took a deep breath. She had heard many stories of VanHelsing, and from what she knew of him, he too was wanted.

"Now it's your turn," he said, prompting her to give out her own identity.

"Very well," said Rowena. "My name is Rowena Ileana Tomescu."